I’m with them on the Motorola Razr V3 (2004) which was a great phone and a handset I’ll be featuring on here at some point.

In second place the Nokia 8110 (1996) and yes enough said. I think I’ve discussed that one enough on here for a good while. I’d buy a retro remake even though it wouldn’t be the same. Morbid curiosity perhaps.

#3 LG Chocolate BL40 (2009) though? Is that even ‘retro’? At the time it felt like LG flailing around a bit trying to find a niche. It didn’t really do anything particularly well apart from being shiny.

And the T-Mobile Sidekick (2002) at #4? What even is that? It looks and sounds pretty bad. This bit just made me feel ill.

Unlike LG, T-Mobile succeeded in making the Sidekick a hit with celebrities, and the phone was seen in the hands of such illustrious talents as Lindsay Lohan, Kim Kardashian and both Nicky and Paris Hilton

Interesting question. Whilst second hand (or pre loved if you prefer the newly marketed way of putting it) phones have jumped in the last few years, you still see some phones go for ridiculously high amounts… and conversely some for a lot cheaper than ‘book value’.

I put it down to the fact it’s only quite recently become a ‘thing’ and there isn’t yet a critical mass of people looking to collect a full set of Nokia cellphones or get the full run of handsets they ever had. Perhaps that’s why it’s a good time to start collecting.

This Is Money tried to quantify it a few months ago and following is a rather random table that may give you an idea of value. It doesn’t seem to be based on value or scarcity and seems to be a subjective list of randomly selected handsets but still potentially helpful. Enjoy:

FIND RARE PHONES ON EBAY

1. Motorola DynaTAC 8000x (£1,000)

2. Nokia 3310 (£10 – £55)

3. First ever Nokia Mobira Talkman 1981 (£900)

4. Apple iPhone 2G (£150 – £1,000)

5. Motorola StarTAC (£30 – £100)

6. Motorola Razr V3 (£15 – £60) / Dolce & Gabanna model (£150)

7. Sony Ericcson W880i (£30 – £50)

8. Nokia N95 (£60 – £90)

9. HTC One (£40 – £50)

10. Nokia 9000 Communicator (£20 – £50)

(Estimated value in brackets)

2g iPhones raises an eyebrow (mine cost a tenner a few years back). As does the Nokia Mobira Talkman at nearly a grand although I’m not interested in that generation. I personally like phones that I remember having or using and that work on modern gsm networks. You can switch on a Nokia 7110 or 8110i (or whatever) and use it. If this blog was a car magazine it would be ‘Practical Classics’.